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Nepal starts implementation of new air travel convention

Kathmandu: Nepal started on Saturday the implementation of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as the Montreal Convention 1999.

The implementation of the convention will pave the way for travelers boarding on international airlines registered in Nepal to get significant rise in compensation in the case of death, injury, and damages to their baggage and flight delays, according to Nepal’s Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation on Friday.

Nepal’s Lower House, the House of Representatives, endorsed the convention on Aug. 23. The Nepali government then deposited the ratification instrument with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada.

After the ICAO notified its members about Nepal becoming part of the convention, Nepal started implementing the convention from Saturday.

The convention imposes a minimum liability of 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), equivalent to 155,963 U.S. dollars for each passenger in the case of death or injury. If it is proved that the staff members of the concerned airlines are involved deliberately in causing damages, the convention has made provision of unlimited liabilities from the carrier, according to the ministry.

Before endorsing the Montreal Convention, Nepali airlines were governed by the Warsaw Convention drafted in 1929 and its protocols. The Hague Protocol 1955 which is an extension of Warsaw Convention has prescribed the maximum compensation limit at 20,000 U.S. dollars per passenger for death or injury.

“A significant rise in compensation amount to be borne by the Nepali carriers following the implementation of the convention would encourage international travelers to fly on Nepal-based international airlines,” Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the ministry, told Xinhua on Friday.

“This will be a motivational factor for them to choose Nepali airline. This will also help contribute to Nepal’s tourism sector.